The Ontario Nurses Association (ONA) thinks of its nurses as the MVPs of healthcare, and wants you to believe it too.

With nurse cutbacks over the past year and a half, the association has decided to put a spotlight on the 59,000 front-line nurses it represents in Ontario with a radio campaign planned and created by agency Doug & Serge.

Beginning this week and continuing until the end of May, the campaign includes three radio spots that will air on stations in 11 cities across the province. Each spot plays on the idea of nurses as pro athletes with one ad featuring two young boys trading collector cards of nurses. Another spot creates a hockey analogy with a commentator voicing a play-by-play of a nurse working in the field.

Linda Haslam-Stroud, president, ONA, tells MiC that the campaign was launched as a lead-up to Nursing Week (May 6 to 12), and that the association wanted to compare nurses to high-profile athletes that are held in high regard, especially during the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

She says that in the past, the association has implemented campaigns that primarily focus on the lack of nurses in the province, and have used a variety of mediums such as TV, print and outdoor. This year’s efforts are centered solely on ear-catching radio spots that look to relay its message of “If only RNs were valued the way pro athletes are” in a fun and lighthearted manner.

“Nurses are told that they’re the heart of the healthcare system. However, when you’re talking about government and employer decisions, it appears that nurses are the first ones to be eliminated from the system,” she says. “We’re out there on a positive note, trying to get the community to support us and value the invaluable.”